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WASHINGTON - Individuals and institutions from across the country today filed friend-of-court briefs in support of Gavin Grimm, an 18-year-old Virginia high school student who is challenging his school board’s refusal to allow him access to the boys’ restroom because he is transgender. The briefs in the case, which is currently being considered by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, represent a diverse and extraordinary cross-section of interests, perspectives, and concerns.

The case, GG v. Gloucester County School Board, has elevated national discussion on the importance of reinforcing and protecting the rights of transgender students following the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case late last year. The high court ultimately sent the case back to the Fourth Circuit following the Trump administration’s decision to rescind previously issued guidance that clarified anti-discrimination protections for trans students in schools.

“The outpouring of support for Gavin from virtually every community across the country today is simply breathtaking,” said Josh Block, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project and lead counsel in Grimm’s case. “Gavin’s fight has inspired and empowered so many people to stand up for the transgender community. We have seen teachers, business leaders, political leaders, medical professionals, mothers and fathers, students, and many others stand up and speak out on behalf of trans students. The briefs filed this week are a reminder that the School Board’s arguments have no basis in reality.”

Today’s filing of briefs exemplified the diverse array of voices and support from communities across the nation in support of Gavin. They include:

Nearly 60 of the nation’s most prominent business leaders, including Apple, Airbnb, eBay, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce, among others

Major medical associations representing the scientific and medical consensus, including American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association, Endocrine Society, among others

Labor unions representing more than a million teachers, as well as the National Parent Teacher Association and GLSEN

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia

The American Bar Association

Major civil rights organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Former Obama Administration officials

A number of other groups and individuals across the country representing educators, students, parents, lawyers, and scientists.

More information about Grimm’s case, as well as stories and personal accounts of people from across the country who are standing with Gavin, are here:

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Further

To those who consider Trump a reptilian shape-shifter, mazel tov: Now he officially is one. Thanks to a species-naming auction for Rainforest Trust, a small, blind, worm-like, newly discovered amphibian who buries its head in the ground will be named Dermophis donaldtrumpi. The name, says its creator, is "perfect" for the new caecilian, from the Latin for "blind...perfectly mirroring the strategic vision (Trump) has consistently shown towards climate change.”

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